So this topic has been heavilly discussed like in the "Milestone" thread (starting about 9444.5) and in topics about naming (like here), but this article specifically talks about the subject in terms of Urban Legends and says:

Why does it matter? We tell funny stories all the time without believing them. (Does anybody really think that a priest, a rabbi and a chicken walked into a bar?) I believe it matters in the case of urban legend names because they're not merely humor...and they're not random. They exist in a complex social setting, and they serve a subtle and consequential purpose. They are proxies for talking about race.

Okay, discuss amongst yourselves.

I actually got this email last week. The sender is black and sent it only to black folk. Were we, then, "talking about race"?

And this:

Or to put it another way, I haven't mentioned a word about Ledasha's race, but didn't you draw assumptions about it?

My email came with a picture.

No offense, Gine, but you tell me what you were talking about. Did you read the entire article?

No offense, Gine,

(I wonder how many oosts in this thread will begin this way.) "Offense"? Why would I be offended?

The story of Ledasha, in my case, came in a mass email, sent by a member of my church choir.

Did you read the entire article?

Oh, now I'm offended. Just because I seldom read through threads, you assume that I--LOL. Yes, I read the entire article. What don't you understand about my post?

Okay, first, I don't know what exactly who/what was in the photo that accompanied your e-mail. So I'm unable to comment on that.

Second, from the article:

On many African-American messageboards you'll find people laughing over the familiar name tales, including Ledasha. In those forums, though, the racial and cultural setting isn't just alluded to, it's the whole point -- and the distinctions go far beyond black and white. Names are dissected as "ghetto" or "saditty," likely to get you rejected for a corporate job or likely to get you beaten up in the 'hood. "Ghetto names," including the standard urban legends, are a staple of black dj's and comics, as in this YouTube video. The names are used as explicit, exaggerated symbols of a specific social set, just as a caricatured "valley speak" might be used by whites.

Get it? The article then goes on to discuss this UL's usage on white racist sites.

Now, I don't care whether you got this e-mail from a black person or not; the intent is mockery and those being mocked are the ignorant under-class. Whether or not this class is deserving of mockery is something else altogether. When American whites are sending this UL around, the message is racist. When blacks send out the UL, race is still (as pointed out above) "the whole point".